Monday, October 4, 2010

Mini mat meet!

It appears Michelle has a painful case of Plantar Fasciitis! This means riding waves standing up is not a good idea for awhile. So yesterday we both kicked out the back on mats for Michelle's 2nd mat session as she thought using fins might be ok and she could still get some exercise and have some fun. Normally, she would take out a bodyboard but this can cause her some back pain to lie on due to it's lack of flexibility and I had mentioned that I thought the mat might be better in this regard also. She was on the Tracker Roundtail this time as the Fatty was recently put out of action temporarily, I hope, as I intend to have a go at fixing it with PGs assistance.
I took out the MT5 having decided to experiment with applying some wax to the deck which is still causing some issues with it's lack of grip. It is not so much an issue when taking off, but more so in the turbulence after the wave has broken.
There were some good sized sets coming through but pretty straight and neither of us would have bothered taking a board out in those conditions.
It was not long before Michelle rediscovered that a mat does not like to take off on a broken wave and that they are buggars of things to get back on.
In the end she got a few cracking rides on good sized waves and returned back out each time for more with the famous mat riders grin etched into her face! The session did not appear to make her foot any worse or cause her back any issues either so I think we might soon see her out there again on a mat.
The MT5 was much improved with a little wax on the deck and I will be more confident about taking it out when there is a more critical wave on offer.
I finished off the session on the Roundtail, after Michelle had gone in, with an effortless perfect little right that walled up for a nice long ride that seemed to go on and on.
It was terrific being able to share the stoke with another mat rider for a change as punters on "normal" wave craft cannot quite seem to understand the source of all the merriment.